But mentioning W&M reminds me...saw this on Charlie Stross' blog the other week. Veh, veh funny. (kinda recall seeing something like this posted here elsewhere but it has renewed pertinence, honestly.)

I feel a little sorry for the Chinese swimmer. That kind of time improvement from race to race is entirely possible when you've not even turned 17 yet. Mark Foster showed his times from that age on the BBC last night and he did pretty much the same thing she's doing. As for her beating Lochte and Phelps times on that last freestyle 50, so did the British swimmer Becky Adlington in the race she won Bronze...

She's been dope tested 4 times in the past year, and twice already at the game themselves. If she ain't clean, then the Chinese have found something the tests don't pick up.

Just annoys me that whenever a new talent emerges everyones first thoughts are 'must be cheating'.

If you want to see cheating then look at what happened in the Badminton last night. The Chinese and Koreans playing in a doubles match both wanted to LOSE so they'd not finish top of the group and avoid playing the favourites in the knockout stages. They weren't even being subtle about it.

"The Chinese and Koreans playing in a doubles match both wanted to LOSE so they'd not finish top of the group and avoid playing the favourites in the knockout stages. They weren't even being subtle about it."

Isn't that just strategy though? And a failure of the seeding system that can be taken advantage of, not actual cheating?

Did any of you guys catch the shit with the South Korean epee fencer? God, the pics of the poor girl having to stay on the mat, weeping in front of an audience, for over half an hour and then being made to go again after losing her gold medal shot because the clock fucked up? "Sucks" isn't adequate enough to describe the situation.

@Oldhat - well, if we're going to properly honor the ancient Greek games then all the competitors should get their kit off...

There was a great piece on the BBC site where they went over all the controversies from every modern games, and my favourite comedy quote comes from the very first when they were asked why women were excluded, apparently it would be "impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic, and incorrect."

@arklight - surely it's a valid interpretation that they *were* doing their best to win overall. Perhaps like a chess player deliberately sacrificing a piece.

If this is something that it's desirable to avoid, every game should be a knockout. It's the system at fault first, the coaches second. The players are the ones who are suffering most from this, as doubtless they're doing what they were told to.

It's actually my understanding that the Badminton World Federation disqualified them and NOT the Olympic Committee.

Yeah, there was a strategy, lose in order to get an easier match in the next round robin, which is still pretty stupid. My thoughts are that if you're in the Olympics every match should be played as if it were for the gold.

Problem with using the consequentialistic positioning argument, that instead of focusing on winning their individual match they focused on getting into a better position for the next heat, is that it obviously didn't work, because they were disqualified. If we're going to focus on the result of their actions rather than the actual actions of the players, then we have to look at the fact that they were disqualified and thus lost. Which means they didn't do their best or use the best tactic. It's the problem with most consequentialistic arguments - are we looking at the actual results or the results that could be assumed based on what is known about the system, they're attempting to game? They were disqualified, so that's the actual results. The results based on rational assumptions seems to suggest that the Olympics and the Badminton World Federation would be dismayed by their attempt to exploit the system and given that there are rules, deontological rules, that dictate that they have to give it their all in each match, this seems to suggest that it is not a viable tactic, even in this regard.

Because either way, it seems unlikely that they'd be allowed to continue and thus it was a remarkably poor and illogical decision.

Even though I didn't pay up to 150 bucks to see athletes throw games, I'm still troubled that the players who unknowingly instigated this cascade of self-sabotage had forgotten about the X-factor of playoffs--upsets, like the one that started all of this--and predicted their own defeats, ignoring the chance they had of actually surprising themselves.

These Olympic Games have already seen plenty of participants both suspected of and criticised for morally dubious conduct. China's Ye Shiwen, the 16-year old double gold medallist, has been found guilty until proven innocent of doping by the ever-reliable court of Western public opinion. That same court has been somewhat less quick to conclude that Katie Ledecky, the 15-year old winner of the 800m freestyle, has been generously assisted by chemical friends. Why Ledecky – a wholesome all-American prodigy with an apple-pie smile – has been subjected to less scrutiny than Shiwen is anyone's guess.

Before I look at any of Flaybo's links, I'm betting at least one of them involves the BMX competition, which out-assed a lot of Jackass stunts for sheer "OMFGLOOKAWAYNOW!" wince factor.

It's been the hockey that's surprised me the most, though. I know it's a risk of any game involving big, wooden sticks flailing about and balls travelling at a zillion mph but sweet baby jeebus!

This is the only example I can find with pics/video but there've been plenty of other brutal incidents.

She'd been hit flush on the head with a full blooded swing of a hockey stick.Blood was pouring from a wound on top her head. Players rushed to her side and a stretcher was immediately called for.After what seemed like an eternity, but was only half a minute, Glynn picked herself off the turf, rendezvoused with the team doctor under the grandstand and had her head stitched, stapled and bandaged.

And then carried-on playing.

ETA: as soon as I posted this, I turned back to the TV just in time to see a Brit taekwondo competitor take a kick to the nads which left him doubled-over and more than a little breathless, despite the protection I'm assuming they wear down there.